When I was contemplating retirement a couple of years ago, my wife, Terri, gave me a book entitled “How To Retire Happy, Wild and Free.” The book is an excellent guide for anyone considering retiring because it addresses all aspects of retirement beyond just financial security.
It forces you to think about what your daily activities will be, how to establish a “bucket list” of all the things you want to do before you go on to your great reward.
In my case, I decided that I would visit all the Presidential Libraries, see different parts of the country, do more research and writing, post a weekly blog on whatever came to mind and regularly go to the gym to stay healthy among other things.
Some of these goals I’ve met, others I’m working on and some have yet to be started.
One of the activities I decided to do, was learn to play the piano. So, I went out and bought a keyboard and found a piano teacher and started taking lessons.
I thought this might be easier than learning a foreign language since I never passed a foreign language course in high school and had to fall back on the Latin I had learned in parochial school to meet the foreign language requirement in college.
I still had some memories of the piano lessons I took in grade school from a Roman Catholic nun and the lingering pain I had on the back of my head when I didn’t play well for her, but I managed to repress them.
I’m able to report that learning to read music and play the piano is no easier than learning a foreign language but I am persistent.
This past 4th of July my three year-old granddaughter, Claire, was visiting. She enjoys playing with our two dogs, Sinead and Georgia, whom she calls “Georgia Peaches” and visiting the mules, cats and chickens out in the barn.
While I was practicing the piano, I heard her ask her mother; “Who is playing that yucky music?”
A few minutes later, as I was coming up stairs, she asked; “Who is coming up the stairs?”
“The man who was playing the yucky music,” I replied.
“We were hoping you hadn’t heard that,” her mother said. “Actually, I agree with her,” I replied.
About an hour later, we were in the driveway getting ready to leave for a 4th of July party. Like all kids, she was getting impatient and asking when we were going to the party.
“Well,” I said, “we could stay here and listen to more yucky music.”
“I didn’t say it was yucky,” she told me.
“You didn’t,” I asked, “then who did?”
“Georgia Peaches said it,” she replied.
I guess I’ll have to practice more.